Jazz Articles about Billy Pierce

About Billy Pierce

Album Review

This 2005 release of a shelved 1969 recording should hold the greatest interest for Sonny Stitt completists. The saxophonist is estimated to have led 150 recording sessions, of which I've now managed to collect 70--but given the current scarcity of some of his best recordings, including the out-of-print date with Oscar Peterson on Verve and the supreme Endgame Brilliance on the defunct 32 Jazz label, a collector can't afford to be too choosy.As an instrumentalist, Stitt bears somewhat ...

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Album Review

Sonny Stitt: It's Magic

Read "It's Magic" reviewed by Paul Olson

by Paul Olson
May 4, 2005

It isn't, though. Magic, that is. While jazz fans may perennially debate saxophonist Sonny Stitt's status as a bebop innovator (ie, how much of its vocabulary did he learn from Charlie Parker, and how much did he develop independently), no one is in disagreement about his being one of the most over-recorded of jazz players. Stitt recorded for everyone, everywhere, and his discography--and reputation--have suffered accordingly. It's Magic is a hitherto unreleased 1969 Chicago Stitt session with organist Don Patterson ...